[Peetwo]

Miniscule King's office tells Senate to 'Get Stuffed' - Part II

Via DK's thread:

Miniscule King's office tell's Senate to 'Get Stuffed'?? -       

Via the SMH:

Alan Joyce faces jail threat if he fails to appear at inquiry

Via Hansard (ref: CBASA Senate Inquiry - Update: 29/09/23):

CHAIR: Do you need to go into camera, Ms Purvis-Smith, to give us the answer?

Ms Purvis-Smith: No, I don't. We don't have access. Any request in relation to outcomes of discussions that the minister may have had where the department was not in attendance would need to be made directly to the minister and her office.

Senator BIRMINGHAM: Ms Purvis-Smith, you were very helpful and upfront before in indicating that you had sent a message to your team to ask them to ask the minister's office.

Ms Purvis-Smith: I said I would see what I can do, and the outcome is that any request would need to be directed directly to the minister's office and to the minister.

Senator BIRMINGHAM: So that is what the minister's office has come back to your team with?

Ms Purvis-Smith: That's the advice I have received—that the request be—

Senator BIRMINGHAM: I would like the precise wording of that advice and how it was provided.

Ms Purvis-Smith: I've just received that from my team, so we don't have—

Senator BIRMINGHAM: You received it by message while you've been sitting there?

Ms Purvis-Smith: I don't have any—

Senator BIRMINGHAM: Have you received it by message while you've been sitting there? Would you like to read the message to me?

Ms Purvis-Smith: It might not be to me, sorry.

Senator BIRMINGHAM: Take your time. It's okay. I'm very happy to wait for this.

Ms Purvis-Smith: Yes, it did. I was looking at the wrong text message; my apologies.

Senator BIRMINGHAM: That's okay. We all have those challenges.

Ms Purvis-Smith: The text message I received is: 'MO view is it is not for the department to answer re the minister's diary. The question should be directed to the minister.'

Senator BIRMINGHAM: Right. Let's go back to the MO and ask them if the minister is willing to appear before the committee.

CHAIR: MO, come on down!

(From about 02:42:30)

Apparently the Miniscule is MIA (on leave) and therefore unavailable to provide evidence either directly or indirectly to the Senate Inquiry:

Minister Catherine King blocks release of Qatar documents to the Senate


September 17, 2023 - 9:22AM

Yet apparently 5 days into Miniscule DK's 2 weeks of leave she was able to take time out from her sabbatical to produce this promo vid for World Maritime Day - via Linkedin:

Australian Maritime Safety Authority
23,369 followers
• 2d •

Today we commemorate World Maritime Day under the theme, 'MARPOL at 50 – our commitment goes on'. It signifies 50 years of setting standards for maritime pollution prevention, and the important role of MARPOL in protecting our oceans.

The Hon. Catherine King, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Local Government, highlights the importance of the MARPOL Convention in protecting the Australian and worldwide marine environment for future generations.

Australia has worked tirelessly for decades in the International Maritime Organization to improve environmental standards through MARPOL.

We actively support the IMO’s Action Plan to combat marine plastic litter from ships and contribute to developing measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in international shipping.

Together with other nations, Australia is resolutely committed to combating climate change and protecting our oceans by promoting affordable clean energy solutions and sustainable innovation.

(YouTube version produced 22/09/23)

Hmm...interesting priorities from the Miniscule?? Happy to promote an obscure, zero fanfare World Maritime Day for AMSA but it's an 'Up Yours' to accountability from the Federal Parliament (taxpayers)?? Perhaps DK's holiday is from matters aeronautical only?? -    

From P7:

From Sky News :

- HERE -

About time the gloves came off – the Senate does have the clout; USE IT. Sort this rats nest out.

'A political stunt': Transport Minister Catherine King refuses to attend Senate committee into Qatar Airways decision

Transport Minister Catherine King said it was a "political stunt" for the Coalition to request she appear before a Senate inquiry examining her decision to block Qatar Airways from offering 28 additional flights in Australia every week.

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King is refusing to appear before the Senate committee set up to examine the Albanese government’s decision to block Qatar Airways from operating additional flights.

The government has been under fire since Minister King rejected the proposal, which would have seen Qatar Airways operating 28 additional flights between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane each week – which Virgin argued would have cut airfares by up to 40 per cent.

On Sunday, Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, the chair of a Senate committee looking into the government’s decision, said she hoped Minister King would “come and explain” the reasoning for her decision.

However, the federal Transport Minister has rebuffed the request to appear before the committee, branding it a “political stunt” and arguing it was longstanding practice for members of the House of Representatives not to appear before Senate committees.

“While Senator McKenzie is wasting time on a political stunt, I am spending time doing the hard work the Coalition never did to set our aviation sector up for the future,” the minister said in a statement.

It is unusual for lower house MPs to appear before Senate committees, but there is precedent for it. In 2014, for example, then-immigration minister Scott Morrison appeared before a Senate inquiry to speak about the government’s boat turnback policy.

In response to Ms King’s refusal to attend, Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham accused the Transport Minister “hiding from scrutiny".

“This is the height of evasiveness from a minister who should be accountable for the decisions she makes, but is instead hiding from scrutiny,” the leader of the opposition in the Senate said.

Senator Birmingham said that the Senate committee had been established because of the Transport Minister’s “refusal or inability to explain her decision to deny Qatar Airways additional flights” and if she failed to appear before the committee the opposition would use other methods to look into the matter.

“The Coalition will be asking the Senate to look at other means to make this minister reveal what lobbying resulted in her rejecting departmental advice to approve the extra flights, thereby making Australians pay more for flights and costing our tourism industry billions in income,” Senator Birmingham said.

The decision to block Qatar Airways from providing additional flights was widely attacked as an attempt to insulate Qantas from competition, with shadow finance minister Jane Hume accusing the government of running a "protection racket" for Qantas.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has also raised questions about the "very close relationship" between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

In the wake of the criticism, Minister King claimed her decision had been partly motivated by a 2020 incident in which a group of five Australian women were subjected to invasive strip searches on the tarmac at Doha airport.

“As I've said repeatedly, I made this decision in the national interest, and there is no one factor that I will point to that swayed my decision one way or the other,” she told reporters in September.

“Certainly, for context, and this is the only airline that has something like that that has happened and so, I can't say that I wasn't aware of it. But certainly, it wasn't the only factor. It was a factor.”

Breaking news direct

(refer to actual SkyNews article for applicable links)

MTF...P2